‘Went smoothly’
Briefing: A U.S. attorney general seems to have done everything right except the job. The first people bound for the Moon in 53 years are off toward the far side. + What is money, anyway?
Destination Moon
Briefing: The White House says the war with Iran will soon end, somehow. The Kremlin bans the most popular messaging app in Russia, for security reasons. + The Sahel is warming 1.5 times faster than the global average. What’s that feel like on the ground?
So long, imagination engine
Briefing: Six months, a billion-dollar Disney deal, and falling downloads. What Meta told parents about Instagram versus what it knew. + Why did the Mexicans kill El Mencho?
Productive conversations
Briefing: The U.S. may or may not be talking to Iran; the Iranian regime may or may not be turning on itself. Lebanon shows out the ambassador from Tehran. + A Category Four cyclone is about to cross northern Australia twice. Why twice?
Who knows better about surprise
Briefing: The war hits the gas fields that power half the world. Three central banks hold rates—and cite the war. + Will Ukrainian democracy survive the Russian assault?
‘No imminent threat’
Briefing: The first senior U.S. official to quit over the Iran war is from Trump’s inner circle. The man running Iran since Khamenei’s death is dead. + Why is Kazakhstan so warm right now?
Below the waterline
Briefing: The price of oil as Iran mines the Strait of Hormuz. Two terror attacks hours apart on American soil. + How did a criminal industry worth tens of billions entrench itself in Cambodia?
The ayatollah sends his regrets
Briefing: Iran names a supreme leader who hasn’t appeared in public since the U.S. and Israel started bombing. A deleted tweet moves oil prices 17 percent. + Why’s it getting so hot in West Africa?
‘Quiet death’
Briefing: The U.S. Navy sinks an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. The U.S. Senate votes to keep the war going. + What held the post–World War II order together—and what’s coming apart?
Four objectives, five days
Briefing: Washington continues fighting with no public definition of victory. Hezbollah breaks its ceasefire with Israel, while Lebanon outlaws Hezbollah. + How could an unexpected event transform a work of art?